Perspectives on the beautiful game of soccer; fueled by enormous amounts of coffee

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Mexico/Jamaica, second half.

The U.S. game just ended, so I'm tuning in late. Mexico is trailing by one goal.46 - Mexico with a quick shot, but it's saved by Ricketts. Jamaica comes right back and is close with an outside shot. I can't tell who took it, though.48 - Luis Perez sends a FK in, but Jamaica's defenders head the ball away.51 - Gio sends the ball too far and loses it to Ty Marshall.53 - Mexico gets a CK. Salcido sends in a great header, but Ricketts saves it miraculously.54 - Ty clears a dangerous ball. The Reggae Boyz are fighting hard for this.55 - Gardner's FK reaches Oswaldo, but he handles it fine.58 - The next hard shot from Austin is much tougher, but Sanchez just gets there.65 - Peres gives up a dangerous FK, but the angle is tough. Sanchez stops the ball, but it's surprising the defenders let it get through that far.67 - Corner kick for Jamaica, but Sanchez grabs the ball. Ty is given a yellow for undercutting Jonny Magallon, but the announcers think it was way harsh.68 - Shot comes close from distance for Mexico, but not really.70 - Perez is out and Arellano comes in.73 - Marquez nearly gets the equalizer, but his header goes off the post.75 - Captain Rafa then gets a yellow, meaning he can't play the next qualifier for Mexico.77 - Thompson's foul on Marquez only gets a yellow and this time, the announcers aren't forgiving and demand red. Tempers flare and shoving breaks out.79 - Salcido gets a yellow.80 - Ricketts catches a cross, then Sanchez does the same at his end. Mexico doesn't look in sync at all. There's individual runs, but that's it.81 - Mexico's corner gets cleared out.84 - Jamaica have a free kick. They're taking all the time they can. The FK is awful, though, way over the bar.85 - Mexico is running out of time. Where's Blanco when you need him? Right - retired from El Tri. Arce misses wide with a shot.86 - Jamaica has about eight clear chances to take a good shot, but manages only one and puts it wide. There was more enthusiasm than expertise in that attack, but Mexico just couldn't shut it down.87 - Another terrible Jamaican free kick. Mexico is hanging heads already, though. Where's the famous fight? Well, it's true they're missing Blanco.88 - Magallon sends a mammoth cross to no one, unless Gio is twenty feet tall.90 - Gio earns the team a FK. All of El Tri goes forward. The ball bounces in the area, but Jamaica finally clear. Rice on the counter shoots wide. Too much epi in that shot.90+ Ty takes the ball away, gets fouled. The fans in the stands are on their feet, saluting the presumed victory of the Boyz.Another foul eats up more time. Vela gets a yellow for being pissy about the time Jamaica takes on the foul.Sanchez sends the ball forward, but to no avail.Final whistle. Jamaica wins, 1-0, and their fans exult.Ok, realistically, this result shouldn't trip El Tri up much, especially if they can learn from it and play sharper. But Mexico's fans and media don't always keep an objective perspective and this result hurts their pride partly because Costa Rica and the U.S. have already qualified to the next round. So Ericksson could feel some heat, or at least hear the sound of a few matches being struck for that purifying fire.